Forest Character: Residential Design Guidelines 1.1 through 1.4 encourage preserving significant trees and minimizing impacts on established trees; protecting the root systems of all trees to be preserved; and, maintaining a forested image on the site.
Staff Response: The site contains four trees, one Coast live oak; one Norfolk island pine; and, two Holly. None of the trees were rated significant by the City Forester. The applicant is proposing to remove three of the four trees, retaining one Holly tree at the southwest corner of the lot. The City Forester is recommending one upper canopy and one lower canopy tree be planted on-site. The applicant has identified an upper canopy Monterey pine on the preliminary landscape plan and two Japanese maple trees. The Japanese maple is not listed on the City’s recommended tree list. Draft conditions 1 and 2 (Attachment 4) require that the applicant identify the location of 1 upper canopy and 1 lower canopy tree from the City’s recommended tree list and apply for a tree removal permit prior to final details review. As conditioned, the project meets the objectives of maintaining the forest character.
Privacy and Views: Residential Design Guidelines 5.1 through 5.3 encourage designs that preserve reasonable privacy for adjacent properties; maintain view opportunities to natural features that lie outside the property; and, maintain views through a property to natural features when feasible. Additionally, Carmel Municipal Code Section 17.10.010.K (Private Views) states: “Designs should respect views enjoyed by neighboring parcels. This objective is intended to balance the private rights to views from all parcels that will be affected by a proposed building or addition. No single parcel should enjoy a greater right than other parcels except the natural advantages of each site’s topography. Buildings which substantially eliminate an existing view enjoyed on another parcel should be avoided.”
Staff Response: The project is located on the west side of Monte Verde Street. Both the existing and proposed residences are one-story. The west (rear) side of the lot is heavily vegetated providing a dense screen between the project and the neighbor to the west.
The neighbor to the north has a rear deck with privacy screen that has filtered views into the project site. The applicant has located the interior courtyard with fire pit on the south elevation to maintain privacy between the project and neighbor to the north. The existing low wood fence between the properties is proposed to remain.
The south neighbor has a two-story residence with windows overlooking the project site. Existing vegetation provides some screening between the properties but is proposed to be removed. The project includes a 6 foot tall block wall at the interior courtyard with fire pit to provide additional privacy between the project and the south neighbor. The existing fence on the south property line is also proposed to remain.
Staff did not identify any potential view or privacy impacts.
Mass and Bulk: Residential Design Guidelines 7.1 through 7.7 encourages a building’s mass to relate to the context of other homes nearby; minimize the mass of a building as seen from the public way or adjacent properties; and, relate to a human scale in its basic forms.
Staff Response: The applicant is proposing to construct a new, one-story residence with a single-car detached garage in the front yard setback. The garage would be set back 3 feet from the side (north) property line and 1 foot from the front (east) property line. The proposed residence maintains a 15 foot setback from the rear (west) property line and a 15 foot setback from the front (east) property line. The residence has been sited to maximize setbacks on both sides (north and south) of the lot. The north side yard is 5’-6” to 7’-7” wide and the south side yard is 4’ to 4’-6” wide. The building height is below the maximum allowed of 18’ and ranges from 12’-6” at the front elevation to 14’-6” at the rear elevation. The detached garage is proposed to be 10’-6” in height at the front elevation. The project meets the objectives of mass and bulk.
Detached Garage in Front Setback: Municipal Code Section 17.10.030.A (Detached Garages and Carports) allows the Planning Commission to approve a single-car detached garage in the front yard setback in order to encourage variety and diversity in neighborhood design. A detached garage is limited to 12 feet in width, 250 square feet in size and 15 feet in height. In order to allow a garage in a front setback the following five conditions must be met:
1) At least 50 percent of the adjacent right-of-way is landscaped or preserved in a natural and forested condition to compensate for the loss of open space;
Staff Response: The entire right-of-way is in a natural state, with the exception of the existing asphalt driveway, and includes three large trees (two Pine and one Oak). The two Pine trees, located south of the driveway, are approximately 18’ apart and there are no plantings, existing or proposed, between them. Other than replacing the existing driveway no changes have been proposed to the right-of-way.
2) The proposed setback encroachment would not impact significant or moderately significant trees;
Staff Response: The detached garage would be located on what is currently an asphalt driveway. A 22” pine and 43” oak flank the driveway. The applicant is proposing to replace the portion of the asphalt in the right-of-way with permeable pavers. No impacts to the existing trees in the right-of-way are anticipated as a result of the new driveway; permeable pavers may improve the existing conditions for the trees by allowing water to penetrate the soil beneath the driveway.
3) Free and safe movement of pedestrians and vehicles in adjacent rights-of-way is protected;
Staff Response: The placement of the garage 1’ from the front property line would not impede public access along Monte Verde Street. The unimproved right-of-way is approximately 10’ in depth resulting in the detached garage being located +11 feet from the edge of the street. While the proposed driveway would not be deep enough for additional off-street parking, a small vehicle may be able to park between the two Pine trees south of the driveway. Additionally, most of the properties on this block of Monte Verde have additional off-street parking which reduces the demand for on-street parking.
4) All development on-site will be in scale with adjacent properties and the neighborhood context consistent with adopted design guidelines; and
Staff Response: The detached garage would be 10’-6” in height with a simple 4:12 front gable roof. The garage would be 11’ wide, 220 square feet in area and subordinate to the primary residence. The scale of the garage is appropriate for the neighborhood which is comprised of a combination of garage styles located at various setbacks.
5) Placement of the garage or carport in the setback will add diversity to the neighborhood streetscape.
Staff Response: The block of Monte Verde between 10th and 11th Avenues currently contains a diversity of garage styles. The garages are modest in scale and set back at varying distances from the front property line with the majority of garages containing driveways that can accommodate an additional off-street parking space. The proposed detached garage would be located 1’ from the front property line and would contribute to the diversity of the neighborhood.
Building and Roof Form: Residential Design Guidelines 8.1 through 8.5 encourages traditional building forms; using restraint with variations in building planes; using simple roof forms that are in proportion to the scale of the building; and, roof eave lines that are low in scale.
Staff Response: The proposed design uses a combination of front and side gabled roof forms with a modest 4:12 pitch. The U-shape building form is simple and traditional with a horizontal emphasis. Variations in the wall plane add interest without being overly complex. The project meets the objectives of building and roof form.
Site Coverage: The Municipal Code allows up to 556 square feet of site coverage if at least half (278 square feet) is comprised of permeable materials. The applicant is proposing 554 square feet of site coverage of which 339 square feet would be comprised of permeable/semi-permeable materials including a 136-square-foot entry walkway and courtyard; a 195-square-foot interior courtyard (south elevation); and, an 85-square-foot service yard which is located between the detached garage and the house.
Right-of-way Character: Residential Design Guidelines 1.5 through 1.7 encourage maintaining an informal open space character of the right-of-way and maintaining trees and natural vegetation within the right-of-way.
Staff Response: The right-of-way along Monte Verde Street is in a natural state with three mature trees. The right-of-way does not contain any encroachments. The applicant is proposing a walkway within the right-of-way from the driveway to the front gate. Walkway materials in the right-of-way are limited to decomposed granite or bark chips. Draft condition 3 (Attachment 4) requires that the applicant identify the walkway material as either decomposed granite or bark chips. As conditioned, the project meets the objectives of maintaining the right-of-way character.